Corporate Sponsorship: is it the future of libraries?

While I was conducting yesterday’s survey of academic library websites I came across something rather odd when looking at Kwantlen Polytechnic University library’s website. They are sponsored. Kwantlen’s library is called the “Coast Capital Savings Library.”

I was shocked. And yet I’m not sure why I was shocked. I am not condoning corporate sponsorship, but I understand why a library would do so. Why not? Many libraries are named after personal donors. So why not corporate donors.

So while I was shocked, I am not judging the librarians at Kwantlen. I bet that money went into providing amazing services for their students. I don’t want to judge, but at the same time I don’t want to someday find myself working in Concordia Univesity College Library presented by Budweiser.